


You are my Dad

by eisneRiegan



Series: Housemate AUs [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:41:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26660830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eisneRiegan/pseuds/eisneRiegan
Summary: Claude lives with Byleth and her son, Dimitri, as a housemate and fills in as father figure for the boy.It's not like it'll become permanent and be the real dad, right?
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Series: Housemate AUs [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1570345
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a shitty week so I cobbled something quick  
> ...  
> Hey that rhymes. Lol

"Byleth?"

"Yes, Claude?"

"I...need help. Please don't get mad."

Byleth Eisner stopped halfway of cutting up some green onion to look up at her housemate with a critical eye. He's actively avoiding eye contact with her as he stare straight up to the wall while her six year old child sat on the floor next to him, making a mess of the glass table with lots of paper and coloring materials strewn about.

"What did you do now?" She asked him pointedly, making him raise his hands defensively.

"I didn't do anything. Not yet, anyway."

"So why are you asking me for help? Is your cafe in trouble again?"

"Oh, no. No. It's doing well now, thank you." Claude took a deep breath to calm his nerves and looked over at her.

"My, uh, brother...saw me and Dima in the grocery earlier and and and...well..things got out hand and uh..."

Byleth set down the knife on the cutting board, frowning at his direction.

"I thought you said your family doesn't come here often?"

"I thought so too! But yeah...things happened. My parents want to meet you and Dima as soon as possible."

"Claude, we have no reason to. We're not married. And you're not Dimitri's dad."

"I want him to be my dad." Dimitri said as he looked up to his mom. "The other kids in the kindergarten always have fun with their dads..."

Claude smiled at Dimitri, ruffling his hair. "We don't have to be blood related to have that kind of relationship. You and I have fun together, right?"

Dimitri smiled sunnily at him before returning to his coloring. Byleth only sighed at that, returning to her cooking.

The three of them live in a three bedroom apartment in uptown Derdriu for three years now. Though their living arrangement came from the fact that Byleth and Claude needed someone to share the expenses with.

Claude has no sense of how much he spends, so he almost bankrupted himself on purchasing a small, foreclosed building and converted it to a cafe business. He only had enough on him to get by for at least six months before becoming a real pauper. He's too proud to ask for help from his Uncle who lives nearby, or to go home back to Almyra and commute three and a half hours every day to tend to his cafe.

Byleth is a single mom working as a boutique manager, with her little boy spending time with his grandparents when she's at work. The boy's father disappeared when she told him she's pregnant and she had to deal with everything on her own.

Claude was a bit surprised to learn that Byleth is a single mom, but his respect and admiration for her, even if they were strangers, went up when he saw how she's dedicated on giving her son the best life even without his father.

And whoever the douchebag left her will catch Claude's fists if he ever show up and demand to hand over the child.

The two of them were introduced by Hilda when both have expressed their frustration of how badly inflated the rental prices in Derdriu is, which resulted to them looking for housemates they can trust. And Hilda, being that link between them, suggested they become housemates.

Their living set up would have been purely amiable as any housemates do, but Dimitri decided he likes Claude and got attached to him.

And started calling him Dad.

The adults he's living with couldn't get him to stop so for three years, Claude has been Dimitri's "Dad" albeit a forced one.

It's a weird set up, but at least Claude doesn't have any existing relationship that could be ruined by an overly attached boy who wants a Dad.

"Sooooo....will you help?" Claude asked her tentatively.

"Couldn't you explain it to them?" Byleth sighed as she placed the green onions into the food she's cooking. "I really don't see the point of pretending..."

"They won't believe the absurdity of our situation. Trust me."

Byleth only gave him a withering look. Claude smiled charmingly at her and gave her his tiniest "Please?"

In the end, she agreed to do it. It's a one time deal, not like they're going to be real in-laws or something and continue to see each other's family.

Right...?


	2. Chapter 2

Things did not go according to plan at all.

Tiana and Hasan, Claude's parents, adores Byleth.

And Karim, his younger brother, is over the moon to know that he's finally an Uncle to an adorable boy.

Even though Dima obviously is not Claude's son.

Well, at least they're accepting to a single mom and her child. Claude was ready to defend their pretend relationship since he is Byleth's friend now and he wouldn't take it if someone badmouths her or her child.

When they finally tucked Dima in for the night, Claude only gave Byleth an embarrassed smile as they sat in the living room to share a can of beer.

Claude isn't really much of a drinker, and would avoid drinking it at any cost but he owes Byleth some kind of apology. So he'll just take a few sips.

"So, now what?" Byleth asked him as she poured the contents of the beer can in two glasses, filling it up to the halfway mark.

"Well, now...we can relax, I guess? They're not going to check on us every day...they won't know that we were pretending."

Byleth gulped down her drink, almost emptying her glass, before looking at Claude with a frown.

"Clau–"

"Did you see how bright Dima's face was when we went out and have him hold on to us in the middle, swinging and trying to jump?" Claude said with a big smile, diverting the topic. "He's like an adorable little sunflower that found the brightest spot in the field."

Byleth stared at that abashed yet fond smile on Claude's face and that also brought a small smile to hers.

She had seen him laugh and joke all the time around her and her son, but this seems to be different. She's seeing him in a different light all of a sudden, though it's nothing but a smidge of affection that she hopes won't complicate their relationship.

He has no reason to be attached to her son, much less be his father figure.

Well.. She guess she owe him something for doing that out of kindness.

He noticed her staring at him, and a blush started creeping up his cheeks.

"What? Is my face that interesting or something? Or do I have something stuck on my face?"

Byleth chuckled at that. "No, nothing... I didn't know you love children. I thought you were being nice to my child because we're housemates."

"Hey, that's rude. I admit I can't stand squealing and crying children but you've raised Dima well. It's not hard not to like him."

Claude turned to look at her, casually propping his elbow on the backrest of the sofa and rested his head in his hand.

"Hey, Bi?"

"Hm?"

"Maybe we should treat Dima out for a picnic on your next day off. Us three. Don't worry about the food. I'll take care of it."

Byleth considered that for a moment, then turned in her seat to face him, mimicking his posture.

"Why should we do that?"

Claude shrugged at that. "Well, you've seen how happy Dima is when we went out as a family. No harm in making a kid happy while he's still at that age, you know. Kids deserve to have happy, healthy environment and memories."

She pursed her lips thoughtfully at that. "Camping would be better for him. I'll see what I can do with my schedule."

The next day, Claude got an unexpected call at work from Byleth, and he left his assistant to deal with a handful of customers.

The kindergarten that Dimitri goes to have called her, stating that they're going to dismiss the kids early. But Byleth's work schedule has her tied up and can't pick Dimitri up.

Flattered that she thought of calling him instead of her parents first, Claude agreed to pick her little boy up.

"Hey boss, where you going?" his assistant pouted when Claude took off his apron and smoothed down his shirt.

"Gonna pick my kid up." Claude replied.

"You're not even married! Sheesh..." His assistant called after him. "Skipping work... Wish I could do that too..."

It took Claude a good half hour to get to Dimitri's school and by the front door, a woman stood by and seeing some kids off with their guardians.

When the woman turned to Claude, she smiled at him warmly.

"Yes sir?"

"Erm.. Yeah, hi. I came to pick up Dimitri."

"Oh, you must be his dad? Miss Byleth did say you'll be the one to pick him up. I'll go get him."

Claude nodded at that, then started listing off locations they can go to now that he's out early.

Park?

Mall?

Pet store? Would Byleth consent of letting her son have a pet?

Does their apartment have a no pet rule? He should have looked that up first...

Wait, did that teacher said Byleth referred to him as Dimitri's Dad?

"Dad!" He heard little Dima squealed as he ran top speed. Claude crouched low enough to catch the little boy before he trips and hurt his face.

"Heyy...don't run around like that." He chided Dima as he hefted him up in his arms and said their polite good byes to the teacher. "Man, you're getting big and heavy for me to carry."

"I can walk."

"I don't trust you not running off on me."

Dimitri laughed at that, wrapping his little arms securely around Claude's shoulders. Claude carefully looked at their surroundings, and noticed a man standing quietly, watching them.

Claude dismissed it, probably just a bystander.

Nothing wrong on standing and watching people if they're waiting for the bus or someone.

"So, bud, where do want to go? Mall? Park?" He asked. "We could wait for your mom and have dinner somewhere, what do you say?"

Dimitri nodded enthusiastically at that. "Can we go to your cafe, Dad?"

"Huh? You don't want to go to the mall?"

The little boy shook his head then made his best puppy dog look, making Claude laugh.

"Okay, the cafe it is. I'll treat you to the best sorbet ever. Don't tell your mom though. She said to limit your sweet intake."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .. I realized I just rewrote the whole fic I had with the same ending from before... Wow. Must be running out of creative stuff. But hopefully this isn't a mess compared to that one

"Mom?"

"Yes, sunshine?"

"Can't you marry Dad so he can be my real dad?"

Byleth froze at that, as she was tucking him in his sleeping bag.

They were finally able to go on a camping trip for two days, and being on their first day out, they did a lot of activities.

Claude and Dimitri were surprised with Byleth's fishing skill, making both guys wonder if Byleth suggested to go camping to do this specific activity. They had never seen her this relaxed and carefree since forever.

Claude taught Dimitri how to swim, though they kept to the shallow waters, with Byleth watching them.

Lunch and dinner was served up to the mother and son by Claude, who decided to show off his cooking skills. He handed them popsicles that he bought from their stopover earlier though for dessert, because somehow the desserts he made in to go cups disappeared from their fridge.

Byleth remained poker faced at that, agreeing that the disappearance is indeed mysterious. Claude only narrowed his eyes at her and she gave him an innocent look, which made her even more guilty for midnight snacking.

When they were teaching Dimitri about the stars, he had yawned and snuggled up to his Mom, making Byleth carry him back into their tent.

She smiled at her son gently, brushing his hair from his eyes and kissed his forehead.

"We'll see about that, honey. Go to sleep."

"Aren't you sleepy too?"

"In a bit. I'm going to help clean up outside."

Dimitri snuggled into his sleeping bag, and is asleep within minutes. Byleth got out of the tent, careful not to wake her son, and found Claude still sitting on the blanket.

"Dima sleeping comfortably?" He asked as Byleth sat next to him.

"He's knocked out. This is the most fun he had for a while, so thank you for suggesting going out..."

Claude grinned at her, handing over a paper cup with hot cocoa that he had kept warm in a thermos.

"Well, sometimes we do need a break from everything. Especially you. Being stuck in a work-home routine is undeniably stressful."

They sat there in silence, drinking the cocoa and watching the stars make their slow turn in the sky.

Claude glanced over at Byleth, noticing that there's a worried frown on her brows as she stares into her drink.

"Hey, something the matter?" he asked her curiously. Byleth blinked at that, snapping out of her reverie, then gave him a small smile.

"A lot of things happening. I'm just glad to be out of it for a while..." She told him.

He pursed his lips at that, watching her closely.

There's something she's not telling him.

While it's not his business entirely, friends help out one another. Or listen to problems and offer them a comforting shoulder to lean on.

"Hey, we're friends, right?" He said after a while. "You know you can tell me your problems. You've helped me out more than I can count so... If there's anything I can do..."

Byleth let out a sigh at that, drinking the last of her cocoa.

"It's Dimitri's dad..." Byleth started as she crushed the paper cup with much force that a few of the remaining drops of the cocoa she wasn't able to get dripped down her hand.

Claude immediately took the cup away and gave her a wet tissue to clean her hand.

"What's up with him?"

"He said he wants Dimitri to go with him. Raise him to be the heir of the conglomerate his family had established over the past five years..."

Claude stared at her.

Dimitri's biological dad is a bigshot businessman?

Wow, Byleth sure is one of a kind...

Normally, businessmen don't care for ordinary working ladies.

"Wow. He comes back out after letting you struggle on your own, huh? He didn't even pay child support for the past years."

Byleth smiled ruefully at that. "He even got the guts to say to my face that I should think of Dimitri's future, so I should hand by son over."

"Big douche. Let me meet him one of these days. I'll punch him in the face."

"Claude, I can't have you thrown into jail for assault."

Claude snickered at that. "It would be worth it though. Knock out a few teeth, or break his nose...but that would mean hurting my pretty hands too..."

"Claude."

"Okay, okay...you're not going to give Dima up, right?"

"Of course not."

"So what's your plan?"

Byleth shrugged at that. "I can look for an attorney to deal with the legalities."

Claude hummed at that.

That thing is going to be expensive.

And be kind of traumatic for Dima if they ever bring him to court for whatever reason.

"Hey, Bi?"

"What?"

"What if... I become Dima's legal dad? He would back off, right? Or have a harder time with the legal stuff? Pretty sure my folks will jump right in to bat him off our backs. He'd regret coming at us, I'm sure of it."

Byleth slowly turned to look at him. Claude struggled to keep a straight face at that sudden proposal. He knows he's coming in too fast and out of nowhere but hey, they've been living together for three years and their set up is pretty much like a family.

Only, he tries his best to keep his nose out of their own family problems.

And they get along well enough, so they don't have to be romantically inclined to be married. They're there for the kid after all.

Sometimes, marrying for the sake of a kid they both care for is the best solution. Sometimes.

Claude let out a nervous laugh at that, after Byleth didn't respond to his suggestion.

"Oh, well, you know. Just a thought."

"Funny that. Dima wanted that too."

Claude tried his best not to look too pleased with that.

"Makes me want to think you two planned the whole thing." Byleth told him, playfully nudging him on the shoulder. "Or that you staged that pretend scenario with your family to corner me into this."

Claude placed a hand over his heart, exaggerating his offended reaction.

"Me? Stage things so that we get married for Dima's sake? How could you accuse me of such thing?"

"Hilda did told me to watch out for your charms."

"Did my charm even worked on you?" Claude asked curiously, making a mental note that he's going to make Hilda pay for that comment.

That was an unnecessary warning to say to Byleth.

She makes it sound like he used this chance to get closer to her.

Which is not the case at all.

Nope. Nuh uh.

The first time he saw her was at the hospital when Dima was two years old maybe, and he anonymously paid for their bills because he wanted to be that random good samaritan seeing that Byleth looks so stressed out when she saw the bill.

He never would have thought they'd become housemates of all things.

"Maybe. Maybe not. But it surely worked on Dima." Byleth replied, amused by his expression. "Let's turn in for the night. Let's talk about this tomorrow..."

"Oh, so there's a chance?"

"Claude..."

"What? Don't pretend the three years we lived together was nothing."

Byleth reached out to pinch his cheek at that, not having any comeback for his teasing.

"Aw come on." Claude complained as he tried to free his cheek. "Being Dima's legal stepdad will give me all the rights to punch that guy. It's not like we're obliged to give him a little sibling."

"I'm not bailing you out if they arrest you."

"So, it's a yes then?"

"I said we'll talk about it tomorrow."

Claude freed his cheek and looked down at his watch.

Almost midnight.

"Well, technically–"

"Claude, you're making me think it's a bad choice if I marry you if you're this insistent."

He held up his hands at that. Fine, he's not going to botch this chance to protect them.

**BONUS** :

Claude paced around nervously outside the delivery room, with Dimitri sitting quietly by one of the chairs and playing on his tablet.

Byleth has been in there for quite a while already.

Do giving birth really take this long?

The doctor said earlier that there's a chance that they might do a C-section if the baby won't turn around in the next few minutes, whatever that means.

He didn't mean to get Byleth pregnant in all honesty months after their wedding a year ago to solidify his claim as Dimitri's legal guardian as well to keep the jerk of a biological dad away.

It sort of...happened.

He shouldn't drink at all.

Or maybe Byleth did that on purpose because Dimitri's first wish when he finally got Claude as his real dad, is to have a little sibling.

Jeez. The stuff Byleth would do for her son.

Well...it wasn't so bad though. He did kind of expect to cross that line somewhere in the middle of their married life, when they're comfortable enough to sleep in one bed.

It just...happened too fast.

As for the legal custody battle for Dimitri, Claude is not ashamed to use his family's connections. His brother has been thrilled to know that Dimitri is now his real nephew so he's going to do his best to win all stages.

Beside, Dimitri doesn't want to meet his real dad. That should be enough for the law to keep him away.

When the doctor came out, she seems kind of exhausted as well.

Claude almost tripped over his feet to rush towards her.

"How is she?"

"She's fine. And congratulations on your baby girl."

A baby girl...

The two guys accompanied an exhausted Byleth up to her assigned room, with the baby in her separate bed.

Dimitri stared at his baby sister, then lightly touched her nose.

It's almost the same as Claude's when he ran his finger on it. The baby opened her eyes briefly to look at him then yawned before going back to her sleep.

When they settled in the room, Claude and Byleth watched Dimitri get fascinated by his sister.

"Hey, bud. Your sister's pretty, isn't she?"

"What did you name her?" Dimitri asked.

"Your mom wants to name her Adelard. But Edelgard suits her more, in my opinion. What do you think?"

Dimitri shrugged. "I don't have preference..."

"Jeez. I thought you'd be more on my side..."

Dimitri smiled at him and went over to hug Claude.

"If you think a hug would appease me for that traitorous comment of yours, you're wrong." Claude jokingly said to him as he hugged Dimitri tightly.

"You are really my dad now, right..?" Dimitri asked him as he settled down on Claude's lap.

"Dima, I've been married to your mom for a year. It still hasn't sunk in yet?"

Dimitri shook his head at that, making Byleth laugh weakly from the bed.

"Guess he still thinks we're pretending. We did that for almost three years with him after all..."

"Dima, no one can pretend for this long and make babies." Claude chided him before turning to look at Byleth. "And you. You should rest. No more smart comments from you."

"Says the chatterbox in this room, preventing me from sleeping."

Claude stuck his tongue out at her.

Well.

At least their pretended relationship ended up being real. And brought joy to little Dima, even though he got a growth spurt in the past year and Claude can no longer carry him around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .. I was gonna write Lambert as the real dad in this but then I realized everything written here are out of character for him so let's go with unnamed random guy. One of the Gautiers would have worked too but Dimitri is blond...


End file.
